“All right, I’ll get my uncle Nick.”
She turned toward her door. He caught her shoulder. “Ashley, wait. I’ve got to get out of here. You get your uncle, and you look around the place, and then you lock up like Fort Knox before you go to sleep.”
“David, just wait. I’ll make sure no one is slinking around. My uncle was in the army. He was the first person to take me to the shooting range. He’ll get his gun, we’ll walk around, make sure everything is safe, all right?”
“Ashley, I’m begging you to believe me. We have to figure out what to do or Stuart will wind up dead. Please…trust no one.”
“I shouldn’t trust sworn officers of the law, but I should trust you?”
“I’m trying to keep Stuart alive. Look, I promise, I’ll get more information. I swear, I’ll do whatever it takes. Give me another day. And if I can’t come up with something substantial, you can go to someone you really trust. And then, God help us all.”
“All right, sit tight. I’m going to get Nick. We’ll look around.”
She left David Wharton in her room, wondering if she was insane to trust him. She couldn’t help but feel he was telling the truth, at least as he believed it to be.
But a bad cop…?
Cops were people. It could happen.
She walked through the house and into the bar. There were a few people finishing their last drinks.
“Nick?”
“Ashley, you’re still awake.”
“Yeah…just barely. Can we take a walk around the place?”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I heard noises.”
“It’s Friday night.”
“Humor me, please?”
“Sure.”
Nick opened the safe and took out his gun. He held it close to his thigh so as not to draw attention to the weapon as he escorted her out to the terrace and around the circumference of the property.
“What did you hear, exactly?” he asked, when they discovered nothing and no one.
She shrugged. “Oh, rustling, I guess. Nothing, really. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“You haven’t bothered me. You’ve never bothered me. But I think we need to talk. Really talk.”
She nodded. Her head was pounding. She didn’t know what was true and what wasn’t anymore. She should be calling the cops right now. But what if David Wharton was telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? She could be endangering Stuart’s life….
They had reached her outer door. Nick turned the knob. To Ashley’s surprise the door opened. Then she knew. David Wharton had bolted. He probably didn’t trust her any more than she trusted him.
“Ash, you’re worried that someone is outside, and you left the door open?”
“I didn’t mean to,” she said sheepishly.
He stepped inside, gun drawn, motioning her back. He quickly discovered that her bedroom bathroom and closet were empty. He even looked under the bed.
“Find anything?”
“Dust bunnies,” he told her.
She grimaced. “I need to vacuum.”
“I need to check out the rest of the house.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“I’ve got the gun, and I still have three or four cops out there. I’ll be fine. But you lock yourself in. Both doors.”
“I won’t sleep unless I go through the house with you.”
He sighed and shrugged. “All right.”
They went through the house slowly, checking every closet, every nook—Nick even looked under his own bed, which woke Sharon.
“Anything wrong?” she asked sleepily.
“No, baby. Go back to sleep,” Nick told her.
She gave him a half smile and closed her eyes again.
“Well, no one here,” Nick said. “Ashley…”
“Thanks!” she said softly, then gave him a hug and returned to her room. She desperately needed some sleep. She couldn’t even think straight anymore. Every bit of her training and knowledge screamed that she needed to talk to someone.
And yet…
Instinct. Instinct was holding her back.
She locked herself in her room, but before going to bed, she stared at her phone. She sighed, bit her lip and decided on one call.
Nathan Fresia answered, sounding exhausted.
“Nathan, hi. It’s Ashley.”
“Ashley…do you know what time it is?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. You’re with Stuart, right?”
“Yup. Lucy is doing great, though. She’ll be here in…in just a few hours.”
“Nathan, this is strange, but humor me, please. Make sure that one of you is with Stuart every second. Unless his doctor is there or…just stay with him every second. Even when—even when the cops are around.”
“What is it, Ashley?”
“There’s no one who loves Stuart as much as you two do. So…?”
“We won’t leave him, Ashley.”
“Not for a minute. Okay? I’ll be in tomorrow, all right?”
“All right. Maybe he’ll wake up tomorrow and you’ll be here. That would be wonderful.”
“Yes, yes it would.” She hesitated. “You’re certain Stuart is fine?”